Familiar teams circling back on 2026 four-star Marcello Vitti

Detroit (Mich.) Divine Child four-star safety Marcello Vitti has had a very busy offseason so far. Vitti was on the road quite a bit this winter taking trips to Boston College, Penn State, Tennessee, Kansas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue and others.

As the weather gets warmer in the Midwest he plans to go out again for another round of visits. The dates are locked in yet but he plans to hit Wisconsin, Kansas, Purdue, Northwestern, and Wake Forest. One thing that caught my attention during out conversation is that Vitti has started hearing from the defensive national champions more.

Michigan has started communicating with him more now as the new staff under coach Sherrone Moore gets settled in.

The interesting thing about here is that now Michigan is starting over in his recruitment. Vitti hears from safeties coach Ron Bellamy the most at Michigan. But he had a long amount of time to build relationships with coach Jay Harbaugh and Coach Steve Clinkscale. Each departed for the Los Angeles Chargers with Jim Harbaugh.

Michigan State is in a similar boat. The new staff has been talking to Vitti more lately but he had a strong relationship with former coach Harlon Barnett.

On the flip side, Penn State, Wisconsin and Tennessee remain solidly among his top choices because they haven’t had coaching turnover. That’s allowed those programs to stay consistent with him.

“The top thing I’m looking for is for sure the relationship with the position coach,” Vitti said. A head coach who has been there and plans to stay. A program that has history with developing players for the NFL. Uses the portal a little but that’s not the only way they are getting players.

“I want to go to a program where I feel I can play early and stay for 3-4 years and then play in the NFL while still getting a good education. Winning matters to me but I’m ok playing for a program on the rise and not just winning every year.”